![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
http://www.bio.vu.nl/thb/users/kooi/lakocahi99.pdf
A little bow - at less than half a metre long too small to be a practical tool - comes from the
later prehistoric Fenland of east England. Along with the wristguards, fine arrowheads and
smoothing stones of the British Bronze Age, it tells of the special meaning of archery in later
prehistory
- whether in the animal chase or in human combat.
The Isleham site
During the winter of 1994 part of a Middle Bronze Age 'settlement' was excavated by the
Cambridge Archaeological Unit ahead of pipeline construction work for Anglian Water's
Isleham-Ely water supply pipeline. A well-defined group of large, back-filled pits, interspersed
smaller pits and post-holes was encountered in the first 50-200 m of the pipeline easement at
Prickwillow Road on the northwest side of Isleham village, Cambridgeshire (TL 6379/7510;
[ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 1 OMITTED]). A zone of dispersed shallow prehistoric
aceramic pits, partially preserved in natural depressions in the undulating chalk surface and
set among known flint scatters, were 'datable' only by a faunal assemblage (wild cat bones
and numerous dog-gnawed fragments and complete bones of cattle, sheep and pig) (Hall's
Isleham Sites 6 and 7: Hall in press; SMR equivalent: 10957, 10954 and 07537).
The bow and its manufacture (with Brian Boyd
Beneath the back-fill of a large pit in the cluster (F.58) lay a miniature antler bow - its
presence sufficient to show that ritual activity played a part at the site. And in a heavily
plough-damaged shallow pit were 18 human rib fragments and pieces of sternum
- the
remains of a double burial of an adult human with a flexed young cow in an association
suggesting a high regard for domestic cattle.
The bow is 455 mm long. Its breadth ranges from 5 mm at the limb extremities to 16 mm
midway between these and the central hand grip, which is 13 mm broad. The average
thickness is 9 mm, tapering to 3-4 mm at the limb extremities. The limbs curve away from the
hand grip at approximately 45 [degrees] [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 2 OMITTED]. It was
fashioned from the beam of a relatively mature red deer (Cervus elaphus) antler. The natural
pearling on the outer surface has all but disappeared, probably due to post-depositional
factors, and the spongy bone tissue on the inner surface is worn down.(1)
The piece of antler has been cut from the beam by the groove-and-splinter technique (Clark
& Thompson 1954), then shaped along its edges using the facet of a flint burin. Marks on one
side of the bow show that two small splinters (c. 35 mm long) were removed by groove-andsplinter
prior to shaping. Microwear analysis (using a Wild Photomacroscope M400 and a
Schott KL1500 cold light source) show the fine parallel horizontal striations characteristic of
shaving action running along the sides, and a number of chattermarks vertical to the
striations on the edges [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 3 OMITTED] - caused by the flint
implement bouncing across the uneven antler surface. The limb extremities have been
tapered to form rounded tips, one slightly more pointed. Overlying the horizontal striations are
a number of fine, closely spaced parallel striations running diagonally along the bow edges,
likely caused by abrasion, for instance by rubbing and polishing with a relatively smooth
stone. The symmetrical shape of the limbs suggests deliberate working. Intensive soaking is
likely to have been the method of bow moulding, although Piggott (1971: 89) indicates the
use of sustained heat (as in a manure heap) for the modelling of ash walking-stick handles.
There are no discernible traces of use on the artefact; polish around the hand grip and at the
tips was probably caused by handling [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 3 OMITTED]. There is
no indication that the bow was strung as there are no nocks, although bows can be otherwise
strung (Heath & Chiara 1977) - if the bow tips are sufficiently tapered the bowstring can be
secured by a number of hitches or a fibre collar (McEwen pers. comm.). Its use as a bow-drill
is ruled out by its lack of flexibility and curvature, coupled with the lack of stringing indication
(Armour-Chelu and MacGregor pers. comm.).
The archer's equipment: a context for a miniature bow
Despite the preponderance of hunting and archery evidence within the lithic record -
arrowheads, wristguards, myriad stone tools for carcass preparation - little survives in the
artefact repertoire. Bows are rare. Did they follow their owner to the grave, or were they reused
in other capacities when broken (Glover 1979: 329). Some 'horn' bows, such as that
found in the 19th century in the peat fen at Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire - about 20 km from
Isleham - are thought to be prehistoric; they may have been made from antler misidentified
as horn (Armour-Chelu pers. comm.). Clark's (1963) study of archery in prehistory is
complemented by ethnographic and technological studies of the bow in hunting (e.g. Damas
1969; Joachim 1976; Cotterell & Kamminga 1990). Piggott (1971: 85) noted the stylized
representation of archery equipment within the Beaker cultural package (in the form of bow
pendants) - a symbol of the archer's skill.
Most of the Mesolithic-Bronze Age wooden bows found preserved in bogs or lake silts have
been self bows (long and of slender rest angles), fashioned from resilient woods such as
yew, ash or elm and measuring 1.5-2.0 m in length (i.e. the height of a person). Where
resilient timber was unavailable, the composite bow prevailed, with lengths of antler, horn or
bone stiffeners in combination with animal sinew or leather affixed to a 'skeleton' bow of
inferior wood (e.g. the composite long bow from the Neolithic Serovo hunter burial, Siberia:
Clark 1963: 51; Cotterell & Kamminga 1990: 185). Later versions of composite bows (dating
from the later 1st millennium BC and later) became smaller in size due to their sophisticated
mixture of resilient materials which could store 50% more energy than a simple longbow of
similar weight (Cotterell & Kamminga 1990: 185). MacGregor (1985) and Clark (1963),
outlining the domination of composite bows in the Mediterranean region in the 1st millennium
BC, acknowledge the use of composites some three millennia earlier. The presence of
composite bows from British earlier Bronze Age contexts is suggested by the bone, antler
and horn 'spatulae' of indeterminate function found in numerous burials, monuments and
Beaker settlements - if these are, indeed, the strengthening parts of composite bows (Smith
& Simpson 1966: 138).
As leaf-shaped forms gave way to barbed and tanged arrowheads during the main centuries
of the Beaker tradition, wristguards and smoothing stones - Bradley's 'socio-technic' artefacts
(1978: 84) - also began to be incorporated into burials. The fine craftsmanship evident in the
elaborately perforated, gold-capped stone wristguard from the Beaker burial at Barnack,
Cambridgeshire (Donaldson 1977), is a local example.
Our bow was found beneath the back-fill of a large pit (c. 2.20 m wide, 0.80 m deep) - one of
at least six similar-sized pits within a more general cluster, all surrounding a blank 'inner'
space. Beneath the back-fill layers of a pit to the east (F.72; which incorporated a pig skull)
two cattle skulls lay, one upside down and the other balanced upright on top of it (with both
pairs of eyes pointing northward). One cow skull was submitted for radiocarbon dating
together with bone found in association with the bow. They gave closely matching dates:
3390 [+ or -] 70 b.p. (Beta-77751) for the bow pit, 3360 [+ or -] 70 b.p. (Beta-77752) for the
skull pit, which calibrate to 17501605 BC for the bow, 1730-1530 BC for the skull at 1 SD
(Stuiver et al. 1993).
The pits and their contents at Isleham remind us of categories and oppositions in later
prehistoric Britain. In one, parts of a human being are buried with a domestic animal; another
contains the skulls of domestic cows and a pig, while another contains the bow. What does
the bow symbolize? Traditional interpretations would have it representing the warrior, as a
weapon in human combat; which we see archaeologically in human bodies with arrowwounds
from e.g. Fengate, Peterborough (Pryor 1976), 50 miles to the west, or a Beaker
context at Stonehenge (Atkinson & Evans 1978). Or could it represent the hunting of wild
game remembering that faunal assemblages from settlements of this date frequently contain
domesticated species to the near-total exclusion of wild species (Martin & Murphy 1988: 357;
Bamford 1982: 30). Yet the act of hunting could now be so altered that its main purpose could
be understood as permitting and emphasizing social interaction, leaving as inconsequential
the food value of the hunted animal. In a region where communal monuments were
conspicuous by their absence inter-community based activities would be essential to the
sustenance of each community's social existence. Hunting, as a group co-ordinated activity,
may have provided the means by which members of one or more communities could, through
a defined and understood set of rules, allow for interaction between these individuals -
acknowledging and/or endorsing the hierarchies extant within the structure of the group,
strengthening the union between individual members and allowing for the introduction of new
members within it. We must, therefore question interpretations of the artefacts of archery and
our categorization of them merely as items of hunting or warfare.
Acknowledgements. The author would like to thank Edward McEwen, honorary editor of the
Society of Archer-Antiquaries, Arthur MacGregor of the Ashmolean Museum and Miranda
Armour-Chelu for their helpful comments with regard to bows and antler, Chris Evans and
Francis Pryor for advice and comments, Crane Begg for the illustrations and Gwil Owen for
the photographs. The description and some notes on the manufacture of the bow were
prepared by Brian Boyd for the post-excavation assessment report and are gratefully
incorporated here. The fieldwork and post-excavation analysis were entirely funded by
Anglian Water.
1 Deer antler comprises a dense irregular outer layer, grooved by blood vessels, surrounding
a core of spongy bone-tissue - the combination of characteristics rendering antler extremely
hard and tough when dry. It is hard to work and usually requires substantial pre-soaking
(Cornwall 1968: 90).
References (se linken øverst)
http://webapp1.somerset.gov.uk/her/deta ... ?prn=10147Edington Burtle in Somerset has provided a bough bow, made from a branch, of Yew dated to 1,320 BC.
In 1932 a Longbow was recovered from an Irish crannog, Ballinderry, in a tenth century context. Dimensions: 75 inches long, 1.6 inches wide, 1 1/4 inches deep and 4 1/4 inches in girth at its geometeric center.This is a self bow of Yew with sap wood and heart wood in proportion, of plano-convex profile and self knocked.
Part of an "Ancient British" wooden paddle was found in peat at Edington Burtle before 1836. There may have been three originally. It is on display in Taunton Museum. There is no knowledge of any other paddles. {1}
According to the Somerset County Museum database, the paddle was found prior to 1867. {5}
A middle Bronze age bow of yew, 4ft 11in long with a groove running along the inner side, was found in peat at Edington Burtle in 1842. Radiocarbon dated 1320 bc ± 60. No further information regarding location. Were in Edington but now in Burtle following parish reorganisation in 1981. {10}
References:
1 Detailed records - Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division 1964 ST34SE11 (SCC Planning Department)
2 Mention - Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society 1902 vol. 48, 85
3 Mention - Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society Stradling, C.W 1851 vol. 1, 51-2
4 Mention - Stradling, W 1836 "Priory of Chilton Polden", 22
5 Museum accession number - TTNCM A420 in Somerset County Museum. [Paddle].
6 Detailed records - Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division 1964 ST34SE12 (SCC Planning Department)
7 Mention - Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society Clark, J.G.D 1963 vol. 29, 90-1
8 Mention - Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society 1902 vol. 48(i), 85
9 Museum accession number - TTNCM A419 in Somerset County Museum. [Bow].
10 Personal communication - Dennison, E Somerset County Council 27.10.87
Jeg tror funnet er dette: The Isleham HoardMalaWolf skrev:Apropos "A miniature antler bow from a Middle Bronze Age site at Isleham, (Cambridgeshire), England."
Nederlandske buerDe Zilk - Broken, but almost complete Yew bow. Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden, reg. nr. h1986/1.1. Radiocarbon dated to 3500§100 B.P. GrN.4070. Calibrated age: c. 2000-1700 B.C
Det ser slik ut, men jeg er ikke i besittelse av TBB2 desverre ... men det regner jeg med at du erKviljo skrev:Er ikke den boka der bare den tyske oversettelsen av The Bowyers Bible 2?
Rausing said the oldest example of a bow with a single ring on the back is the Margreteberg, Vasby bow from Sweden. One end of a limb was found but the wood type is undetermined. Rausing says the first composite bows appeared in the Bronze Age. He speculates the Margreteberg bow could be a wooden copy of a composite. He says this because the bow had a very deep section of wood left behind the nock, which was cut across the back. Cutting the outer ring for the nock, however, could require such reinforcement to prevent fracture.
The bow apparently began a cedline as a military weapon during the Bronze Age. The Iron Age began about 1000 B.C., hot on the heels of the Bronze Age. Rausing classifies succeeding bows as Iron Age types.
Longbow, by Robert Hardy, lists some finds not included by Rausing. They include the 1935 discovery of an oak longbow found in Denmark, and dated between 1500 and 2000 B.C.. Hardy says wood was removed only from the belly side. If this bow follows one ring on the back, and the dating is accurate, this may be the oldest bow of the modern conventional type. Hardy also mentions an oak flatbow found in Scotland, dated to 1300 B.C.